Why is it that we have SNCOs who are on their way out the door and do not want to share knowledge or help JNCOs progress?

Why is it common for newly promoted SSG to see how much more, how much better they can do with newfound rank and authority while others work to see how much less they can get away with.?
Why do some newly promoted SGT put thier head down and really get into the job while others find new and better ways to sham?

Why does the outgoing CSM, SGM, 1SG. MSG "check out" the last year, 10 months?... well for sure, some are assholes and have been skating for long before that... and some have been devoting every waking min to others, to the mission, to the soldiers..and when that retirement order hits the desk they realize how screwed they are, no plans, ignored family for years, nothing but the Army,,and that's ending..so they dig into what comes next while they still can. They ignore the old, the unit now being navigated by a new leader and focus on the family, themselves, for the first time in 28 years, 7 months...
Every Soldier has to end thier career at some point.. the ones that have been doing it right for 20 plus years....dont you think they deserve some time at the end to focus on them and thier family..so they can have a decent life after Army?

The simple answer is some of them are getting kicked out and the others are busy thinking of what they're doing after military life and retirement. I don't begrudge them in either case. I had a couple SNCOs retire and they were almost never there. Between medical appointments, separation classes, job interviews, packing and moving, they pretty much had a full plate. And the ones who were getting kicked out, do you really want their knowledge?

The way I see it, if you want the knowledge of your superiors, it's your duty to seek them out when they are available. When my Gunnys were in shop, I was shadowing them for any bit of knowledge I could get. It's all about Initiative. If you don't want the knowledge, they're not going to give it to you. But if you are ready and want it, they'll give you all the knowledge and wisdom from their career.

But if you are waiting to learn when they've got their foot out the door, then it's already too late.

SSG-

Let me give you the other side of that coin. At a Command I was at I was Primary on several systems, two of which were specialty units. I had all the knowledge, I ran the shop maintenance program. 9 months out from my transfer I started trying to hand these systems off. No one would take them and the CoC did not see a reason for them too. 6 months, 3 months, 1 month... No one would step up or wanted to learn them. By this time I realized they had screwed them selves over and I let them by not forcing them to do the jobs. I was helping in setting them up for failure. So I dumped it on top of them hard and dirty. They complained to the CoC who wanted to know why I had zero maintenance and why I had assigned it to the rest of the shop. I explained they needed to learn it while I was still there to answer questions. Well they all played games and only did the easy work, no one asked any questions, and they pushed maintenance right to avoid it thinking I would do it for them. I transferred and for 3 months after I got Questions and requests for sops emailed almost daily, and at least a dozen phone calls some in the middle of the night.

Quite frankly while a good leader should teach those under them, the JNCO have a responsibility to step up and request the information. Why should we all waste time teaching people if they really have no interest to learn? Any one of my Junior people that come and ASK me questions I will spend as long as it takes to answer them. But i'm not going to waste my time with people that don't want to learn.

Here is an answer that will make you think, a lot of the senior NCO have chosen not to share their knowledge with the junior NCO because they prefer that Junior NCO learn on their own through trial and error, more so because there has been so many changes within the military. About the only good advice that a Senior NCO can give to a Junior NCO is "Stay Flexible, Stay Flexible."

My guess is that they would probably not listen or care what they say.

If a SNCO has always mentored and looked to train junior NCO's from all the lessons learned over the decades then they will most likely continue to do so as the leave the building and in many cases years after they are out of uniform. If another group of SNCO's always kept to themselves, never looked out for anyone but themselves and were shitty leaders to say the least why would any Junior NCO want to learn from them? The secret to leadership is having the basic building blocks within you and then taking and making other good/great NCO abilities your own as you serve with those examples and under them. I will tell you this, serving under the older generations of NCO's who served in the 70's was not an experience for the gentler souls. In those days you avoided SNCO's like the plague and if you were unfortunate enough to be walking on the sidewalk when you BN CSM was on his way to your company from the other direction. Lets say a smart NCO/troop remembered they forgot something the other way fast. Think CSM Plumbley as played by Sam Elliot in "We where Soldiers". You don't go out of your way to Chat with SNCO's for fun. I was no Great SNCO but to my credit even the troops and Officer who hated my guts spoke well of me most of the time because I was a big pain in the ass and spoke my mind regardless of tact. To this day I remember every good and great NCO I served with and what I took away from their brand of leadership. The Phuckstick NCO's I knew are also in my head as what not to be/do.

Good question. There will always be individuals that believe their part is done and it's time to move on. You just have to remind them to finish out their service honorably and to the full responsibility of the rank they hold.

Part of the problem is that many of these SNCOs have no knowledge to share! They got their rank by filling their boxes and not fucking up. When there was 'work' to be done, they made it a point to be somewhere else getting bullet statements for their EPRs or jumping through their ass to get this or that award or decoration. They went to the various schools and academies to fill boxes, not really learn anything to use. In fact, most of what they were taught there would and could only work IF everyone else was doing what they were supposed to do. But they do not. They are too busy getting their rank by filling their boxes and not fucking up! How did I get my rank? A few good decisions, the help of quite a few good people and blind dumb luck.

Guess I won't ask SGM Erik Marquez how he really feels. Bottom line, if you've been giving it your all for so long, at some point you stop looking around and start looking outwards beyond where you're at now. I didn't have that luxury as my final tour was in a Skipper slot but it was Reserves, hence I had a day job and a lot of people to worry about there too. And as predicted, I started looking outwards when I was about 6-9 months out from that as you have to get paperwork in, have to work on your backfill, start the house remodel so we could get the hell away, and the list goes on. Transitions are big things that take time and energy. Be glad you're given your space when that time comes.

The knowledge was hard to acquire. Why should they deprive YOU of the joys of learning?